Taking a leaf out of comic actor Sacha Baron Cohen's book, who has been promoting his film The Dictator in character as General Aladeen, Francis has insisted on staying in the character of Lemon in interviews.

Francis, 38, is known for the comic portrayals of real life celebrities such as singer Craig David and former Spice Girl Mel B in the show Bo Selecta!.

His panel show Celebrity Juice has run for six series on ITV.

There are people who don't like me and will say' You're rubbish'Leigh Francis

Much of the film, largely shot in Northern Ireland, is scripted though Francis said there was room for his style of improvisation.

"As long as we get from A to B, in that scene, then nine times of out ten they'll shoot the one we had fun with.

"It's better because when you're writing, I don't find it very creative sat in front of a computer screen."

Much loved TV characters and shows have made the jump from the small screen to the big screen with varying degrees of success.

Cohen's Ali G Indahouse was released to average reviews as was comic Harry Enfield's Kevin and Perry Go Large.

Francis admits he was aware of the potential problems but joked: "I thought will people want to go see an hour and a half of me but thanks to ITV2, repeating the hell out of Celebrity Juice is seems people are happy to watch more".

As for critics, Francis said: "There are people who don't like me and will say' You're rubbish'.